


The Crime That Time Forgot

by Katiebug586



Category: Fillmore!
Genre: Anza isn't paralyzed in this one, But Frank and Vallejo are totally dating tho lol, Conventions, Crime, Dinosaurs, F/M, Fluff, Phobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:46:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25983064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katiebug586/pseuds/Katiebug586
Summary: During a dinosaur-themed convention at X Middle School, a T-Rex animatronic is suddenly activated, wreaking havoc on the convention and it isn't an accident.Now it's up to the Safety Patrol to find out who exactly sabotaged the event and why? Is there bad blood and a need for revenge in one of the clubs that helped make the convention possible? Is the saboteur going to strike again?Can Anza get past one of his weaknesses that he's afraid will make him look 'uncool'?
Relationships: Cornelius Fillmore & Ingrid Third, Danny O'Farrell/OC, Frank Bishop/Horatio Vallejo (For like one scene), Joseph Anza/Karen Tehama
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	1. ACT ONE: An Unconventional Convention

It was a rather peaceful day at X Middle School, which was probably one of the most active middle schools in the entire state of Minnesota, always having some kind of convention going on or some other kind of festival, and today was no different.

The Prehistoric Convention was currently on-going, with giant dinosaurs and creatures of the old world littering one of the school gyms in which it was being held. Some of the Safety Patrollers had also joined in, mostly to watch over the event and to make sure no trouble was afoot.

But not everyone was exactly  _ happy _ with the convention.

Anza stared at the giant life-sized model dinosaur in front of him with an expression of uncertainty and slight fear on his face.

“You okay?”

He jumped at the noise but quickly managed to play it off by putting his hands on his hips and acting cool. People couldn’t see him being vulnerable, especially to some dumb fake dino, and  _ especially _ not in front of Tehama.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said, nonchalantly, looking away from the model and towards his partner, “just enjoying the scenery.”

“Isn’t it just so life-like?” Tehama motioned to the Cretaceous demon-beast, “Just look at those sharp teeth! Ready to bite into your unsuspecting human flesh at  _ any _ given moment!”

She teased him, acting as if her hands were T-Rex claws, ready to dismember anything in her path. He nervously chuckled,  _ knowing _ that she was just joking around, but still feeling uncomfortable by the whole deal. But it wasn’t like he was going to tell her, though, that’d make him uncool and Joseph Anza was  _ not _ uncool.

“Y-Yeah! That’s really-” He started, before the robotic menace sprung to life and let out a terrifying roar, “AAH-m-mazing! D-Definitely life-like!”

Tehama gave him a look as if she knew he was hiding something but didn’t push the issue any further, she just continued to inspect the animatronic as if it was one of the most interesting works of art and machinery that she had ever seen. It, on the other hand, had returned back to its stationary mode and was now staring at Anza with lifeless eyes, which had never appeared more terrifying until now.

He shook his head and recovered from his state of shock and started looking around, trying to find something to take his mind off of his ridiculous and completely irrational fear. Observing the space around them, he saw Vallejo and Frank talking to each other, acting as if they  _ weren’t _ deeply in love. It was so obvious, at least to him.

Maybe he’d walk over there in a bit and see what they were talking about, it was really humorous and entertaining to see Vallejo get all flustered and slightly annoyed at the interruption and even more so that he really couldn’t do anything, since his oh-so-obvious-love couldn’t be known to anyone except the recipient of his affections.

Too bad he was  _ awful _ at hiding  _ anything  _ about himself.

However, Anza really didn’t feel like doing that, to be fair, he just wanted to get out of here, but he knew he couldn’t.  _ Why _ exactly did he bother coming here in the first place? Maybe it was because he wanted to conquer his dumb phobia? Maybe he didn’t want anybody to know he had one in the first place?

Spotting a small concession stand, the boy decided that perhaps food would be his best bet for getting some sort of relief from his awkward predicament. Before leaving, he gave the giant beast one last glare as if expecting it to jump off the wall and bite his head off.

As he made his way, a small shadow crept towards the model dinosaur, unseen by the other people there or Tehama, who was too busy looking at a plaque describing the mechanism behind the beast to notice.

Meanwhile, Fillmore and Ingrid were patrolling the area, looking for any signs of trouble or suspicious activity, which was what they usually did during one of these school conventions, though it didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary was going on at the moment. Still, they needed to be prepared should something unexpected occur.

“It’s quiet,” Ingrid mumbled,  _ “too quiet.” _

“Come on, mama, don’t be like that,” Fillmore jokes, “somebody will try to pull something, eventually. Besides, don’t you want to enjoy yourself? Just look at O’Farrell over there.”

The two turned around to see the aforementioned photographer looking at some of the exhibits with varying degrees of interest and intrigue. This was practically heaven for the dinosaur-obsessed boy.

“I see,” the girl responded, looking back towards her partner-in-fighting-crime, “I suppose enjoying some of the festivities wouldn’t hurt, would it?”

“You know the saying, Ingrid,” Fillmore snickered, “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy… err, dull girl.”

Now it was Ingrid’s turn to giggle, giving her partner a rather amused look. “I’ll keep that in mind, what do you want to hit first?”

“I was thinking-”

Before he could continue a thunderous roar could be heard from the other side of the convention center, along with the screams of frightened people, who, upon inspection, were seen running away from something in a panic.

The two patrollers looked up and saw the life-sized T-Rex robot that used to sit in the middle of the area, stomping around the entire hall as if it owned the place. Students, faculty, and visitors were running as fast as they could from the terrorizing monster, which was crushing exhibits and stands like it was nothing.

Fillmore furrowed his brows, “You know what they also say?  _ All good things must come to an end.” _

On the other side of the center, Anza put his trash in the garbage bin, feeling a bit more relaxed and comfortable with where he was. Well, he was right, getting some food  _ did _ make him feel a  _ little _ bit better, now he just has to find Tehama and-

A lot of loud noises and screaming grabbed his attention, as he looked for the source of the noise. Hearing giant footsteps behind him, he turned around, only to freeze in his tracks.

He couldn’t move as he stared in fear at the giant animatronic T-Rex that towered above him, ignoring the cries of everyone else telling him to get out of the way and run. It wasn’t like he  _ wanted _ to stay, but he was like a deer in the headlights, completely unable to move and get to safety.

The giant lizard-like robot wasn’t interested in him, however, and aimed to continue on its path of destruction, but that didn’t mean Anza was exactly safe just yet. Its clawed feet were  _ dangerously  _ close to stepping on him and injuring him.

As it moved to take another step, right under where the patroller was still frozen, Tehama finally came to the boy’s rescue, grabbing and pulling him out of the way just as the robotic creature brought its foot down.  _ “What the heck are you doing just standing there?!  _ Come on!”

The boy didn’t respond to her and was still in a state of shell shock and vivid terror as he stared blankly at the scene ahead of him. While the dinosaur wasn’t exactly right up close to him anymore, it still probably wasn’t wise to stick around.

Tehama shook him, trying to get her partner to snap out of it. “Stop spacing out, we need to leave, now! Uh… Anza, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“He’s in shock,” Fillmore stated, looking over at Anza, who was now shivering and shaking, and even though he made no other movements, it was enough to show that he was somewhat alive. “He’ll be fine, but you should get him out of here before that thing comes back. We’ll try to stop it before it causes too much damage.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that, Fillmore,” Ingrid said, looking towards the robotic creature, which had abruptly stopped. It let out a garbled and glitched roar before falling over onto the concrete floor.

“That was wicked!” O’Farrell cheered, earning glares from the other patrollers, save Anza, who was still in a state of shock, “What? You guys know I love dinosaurs!”

“We  _ know _ O’Farrell. We’re just lucky that  _ thing _ ran out of power on its own or else-” Fillmore began, stopping when he noticed that a compartment on the T-Rex’s back was open. Inspecting it, he pulled out some type of object that was attached and showed his partner it. “Is this-”

“A circuit board,” She stated, taking the object from his hands and looking it over, “that means-”

_ “This wasn’t an accident.” _


	2. ACT TWO: Dude, Where's My Dino?

The next day, the patrollers regrouped at the HQ and discussed the incident, wondering what their next course of action should be. Vallejo rejoined the group, looking rather distressed, though he almost  _ always _ looked like that.

“ _ Please _ tell me you guys have  _ something _ , Folsom’s been on my case nonstop since our little ‘Convention Incident’ occurred!”

“It was sabotage.”

“I  _ know _ it was sabotage, Fillmore! Everyone knows it was sabotage!” Vallejo snapped back, before regaining his composure, “Sorry, still, it’d be nice to know  _ who _ was behind this, thank you very much!”

“Listen, Vallejo, we’re  _ working _ on it, but until Ingrid and Tehama finish looking at the circuit board, we don’t have anything to go on. This was done from someone who  _ knew _ what they were doing, so we can’t be hasty with our investigation.”

“Fillmore, I got some info on a possible lead,” Ingrid interjects, walking up to the two with the circuit board, “Just take a took.”

Fillmore looked at what his partner was holding, noticing something that he had missed beforehand. The bright orange board, connected with all sorts of strange wires and contraptions that the boy would probably never understand, had a strange signature on it.

“Property of D.O?”

Everyone turned to stare at O’Farrell with suspicion, who was quick to try to deny whatever the patrollers were thinking. “Hey, I didn’t do it! While it  _ is _ odd that the initials match up to mine and I  _ do _ love me some dinosaurs, do you  _ honestly  _ think  _ I _ would have the brainpower capable of pulling such a heinous act?”

“O’Farrell’s got a point,” Vallejo responded, before rubbing his temples, “However, while this  _ might  _ narrow our list of possible suspects down, there’s still probably fifty or so kids that have the same initials, it’ll be straight-up impossible to find out who  _ actually _ did it!”

“We’ll need to go deeper,” Fillmore mused, thinking statistically, “There’s bound to be  _ something _ to go off of than just a name.”

“What about the Robotics Club?” Ingrid asks, “They’re the people who made the animatronic dinosaur, right? Perhaps they know something about this.”

“My theory is,” O’Farrell began, “the Robotics Club is behind everything! They got some kind of grudge against prehistory and everyone who likes that stuff, so they’ve sabotaged the convention using their robots! It makes so much sense! All we gotta do is get them to confess to the crime!”

Everyone let out a collective groan at O’Farrell’s comment while Vallejo simply rolls his eyes, getting back to the matter at hand.

“Well, it’s a start,” he said, “alright, you two can ask them if you want, but take O’Farrell with you. I don’t need him annoying everyone else to death with his stupid conspiracy theories involving this or that.”

Speaking of everyone else, a certain patroller had a burning question on her mind. She turned towards her partner, concerned for his well-being. “Hey, Anza, you okay?”

“H-Huh?” the boy responded, slightly startled, before regaining his composure and turning to look at Tehama, “Yeah, I’m… I’m okay, why?”

“I just wanted to talk about yesterday…”

Oh, there it was, the big elephant in the room, there was no hiding it now, was there? He didn’t remember that much from yesterday, but the boy just  _ knew _ he made a huge fool of himself and now  _ everyone _ probably knew just how much of a  _ wimp _ he was. Still, he could always try to play dumb or something, that might work. “Why?”

“You… You seemed terrified yesterday, you just froze and wouldn’t move until we got you out of there, I was just wondering-”

“No, I am  _ not _ afraid of dinosaurs!”

The others stopped their conversation, looking at him with varying degrees of concern. Great, did he  _ really _ have to shout that out loud? Now  _ everyone _ will know, that is, if they didn’t figure it out already! Seeing them all stare at him, he felt the pressure increase tenfold. Hiding it was pointless, it seemed.”

“Fine, dinosaurs upset me… a little,” he admitted before realizing this wouldn’t be enough, “Alright, I’ll confess, I’m scared of dinosaurs, okay?! I’m not the cool guy you all thought I was, now leave me alone!”

He laid his head down in his arms, trying hard not to scream in utter frustration. Not like it would matter if he did or didn’t, his life was efficiently over. All because of some dumb fear over some ancient fossils.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, the patroller brought his head up, eyeing Tehama, who had the same understanding and gentle expression that she always had. “Anza, being scared is nothing to be ashamed of, everyone fears something.”

“Yeah!” O’Farrell interjected, “Did you know Vallejo’s scared of bugs?”

“I’m not! That’s a ridiculous claim, even for you.”

“Then why do you always freak when a bee gets in?”

“Because,  _ O’Farrell,” _ Vallejo sneered, “have you ever met a wasp or a hornet? They’ll sting you multiple times, which hurts a  _ lot _ , mind you, and then they’ll call their buddies over, who’ll also sting you! I  _ refuse _ to play the deadly guessing game of ‘Is it a bumblebee or a wasp?’. Besides, don’t you have some investigation to do or something?”

“Yeah,” Fillmore said, grabbing O’Farrell and dragging him along, “Come on, Ingrid, let’s get some answers.”

As the three left to continue their investigation, Tehama continued to comfort her embarrassed partner. “See? Even Vallejo has something he’s scared of. Feeling fear over something doesn’t make you weak, Anza.”

“You don’t understand,” he pathetically whined, “it makes me look like a complete loser, but it’s not like I can just  _ stop _ being afraid.”

“That’s not true! Why do you think people say ‘Face your fears’? You can beat it! It’ll just take a bit of work. I’ll help you.”

“Really?” Anza wasn’t one to show a vulnerable side to anyone, but for some reason, Tehama was different, he just  _ knew _ she wouldn’t think of him as a lesser person for sharing feelings. “T-Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

Down at another section of the school, the trio entered the robotics lab and all of the students almost immediately froze at their presence and dropped what they were doing, staring at the three with curiosity and apprehension.

After a rather long period of uncomfortable staring and silence, a boy walked up to the group. He looked more disheveled and anxious than his colleagues with messy brown hair that was scattered every which way and tired eyes that made him look like he hadn’t slept in a week. “Listen, if you’re here because Miss. Folsom wants to get rid of the Robotics Club, then just do it. I don’t know  _ why _ Rex went rogue, but it doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter, but we’re not here about that. We were just wondering if you knew anything about this,” Fillmore showed them the circuit board, “or if you know who D.O is.”

“Maybe  _ he’s _ D.O!”

“I’m not,” the boy clarified, “but I might know who you’re searching for. Name’s Albert, by the way, president of the Robotics Club.”

“Cornelius Fillmore,” the other said, before motioning to the two people behind him, “and this is Ingrid and… O’Farrell. I know he’s annoying, trust me, but one tends to get used to him after a while.”

“I… knew someone like that, once…” the president started, with a dry and weary laugh, “as a matter of fact, that’s probably who you’re searching for. Ah, Darla Owens, I haven’t heard that name in many a moon.”

“Darla Owens? Who’s that?” Ingrid asked.

“I’m glad you asked. She was a member of our club a couple of months ago, but she wasn’t exactly the most respected. Many of us would poke fun at her for her interests in dinosaurs and astronomy. Well, I didn’t, but I still let it happen. Eventually, I guess she had enough and just… left. We thought that was the last we would hear of her, so when we got commissioned to build the T-Rex for the convention, we didn’t think much of it,” Albert looked down at the floor, “perhaps it was all just one giant set-up.”

“Or maybe it was someone who was just waiting for the perfect moment to strike,” Fillmore commented, “don’t beat yourself up over this, man. It wasn’t your fault.”

“It still feels like it is,” the boy replied, glum, “but that’s not our biggest worry. We took the animatronic back to the lab to work on it and figure out what went wrong, but… it disappeared this morning!”

“Dawg, you don’t think-”

“I had a suspicion Darla was behind this, but now I’m positive. I don’t know what she’s planning next, but I just hope she realizes the full consequences of her actions. You’re the Safety Patrol, you gotta do something!”

“We’ll try.”

“Fillmore, wait,” Ingrid interrupted, “people are down at the gym repairing the damage from yesterday’s little accident. If this isn’t a one and done thing, what if her next attack is to destroy everything she couldn’t?”

“Only one way to find out.”

At the gym, Anza threw away a dented cardboard cut-out of a velociraptor, trying to seem brave once more. Being back in such a place wasn’t easy for him, but with Tehama by his side, he felt a little better. Besides, the rogue dinosaur from yesterday was nowhere to be seen, which made the whole thing a  _ little _ less frightening.

“See, Anza? You’re doing great! Pretty soon, you won’t feel scared from any of this stuff!”

“I sure hope so.” His partner’s words  _ did _ comfort him, keeping the boy from giving in to his instinctual urge to flee the area. Tehama was his rock, the person to keep him grounded and connected to reality, the one to remind him that ‘you’re okay, you’re fine, we’re in this together’. He did like her a lot, even if he didn't tend to show it that much.

As he threw another piece of dinosaur-shaped trash into the garbage, the floor rumbled, reminding him of a very certain foe he had faced. Looking around, however, he didn’t see the giant robot T-Rex anywhere, so for a second, he thought maybe it was just his imagination.

But then, a roar could be heard and from the doorways to the gym, the freakish robotic brute stormed in, breaking the doors and part of the doorframes.

_ Here we go again. _


	3. ACT THREE: Fear Is A Four Letter Word

Fillmore and the others ran into the gym, coming face to face with an all too familiar sight. The giant robotic T-Rex, repaired and more deadly than ever, once again smashed broken exhibits and abandoned concession stands. While there were way fewer people in the area than before, the ones that were cleaning up the wreckage from yesterday weren’t exactly the luckiest people alive at the moment.

“Ingrid,” Fillmore began, looking at his partner, “try to evacuate everyone, O’Farrell and I will try to find Darla. But where should we look?”

“Isn’t it that most remote-controlled stuff only works if you’re less than a few feet away?” she responded, thoughtful, “I know it’s different for drones and other high-tech gadgets, but this is some child’s scrap project, not exactly something I’d call ‘high-tech’ or sophisticated.”

“Disco! That means she’s somewhere close by. But where exactly? Where would someone hide if they wanted to cause mass destruction, but couldn’t leave?”

“What about up there?” O’Farrell asked, pointing towards the broadcast and commentary booth, which towered over the gym and bleachers, “Nobody goes into there except for sports commentaries and podcasts.”

“Double disco! It’s not too far from the robot _and_ it’s discrete, so she thinks nobody will bother checking! Come on, O’Farrell! We got a crime to solve!”

The two ran towards the booth, determined to solve this crime once and for all. Running through the rather dark corridor and up the stairs that lead towards the entrance to the booth, they soon found themselves at the door of the booth. Behind it, there could either be answers or another dead end.

“You ready, Danny?” Fillmore asked, putting his hand on the doorknob.

“Ready when you are.”

Fillmore slammed the door open, making the sole occupant inside jump in surprise. Her eyes widened as she saw the two, then narrowed, not enjoying the sudden interruption from her devious plans. A small device was grasped in her hands, which were moving a joystick on the gadget around. Bingo.

“Well, well, well,” Fillmore commented, slightly amused at the flustered look on the girl’s face, “Darla, I presume?”

“How do you know my name?!” she snapped back, managing to tighten her grip on the controller while still moving the joystick around, “You’re… You’re not supposed to be here!”

_“You’re the one who’s not supposed to be here,”_ the boy coldly stated, walking up towards her, “besides, we managed to track you down with a couple of outside sources, which is fueled by the fact that you’re worse at covering up your tracks than a cat that just walked through wet cement. Seriously, Property of D.O? Who puts their initials on something they’re going to use in a crime? I’ll admit, this _has_ been one of our easier cases.”

"You…you…" she stuttered, unable to get a word in edgewise, “I… alright, I’ll admit, that wasn’t my smartest move. But officer, you don’t understand!”

“No, _you’re_ the one who doesn’t understand! Now, hand me the controller and let’s get this over with. Don’t try to run or you’ll have to deal with O’Farrell over there,” he pointed towards the photographer, who stood in the middle of the doorway, a look of pity on his face, “he’s more capable than he looks.”

“Oh, how I would just _love_ to give you this,” she said, in a sickeningly sweet voice, “but I’m afraid that’s out of the equation. You see, this remote controller is _way_ too complex for any simpleton wanna-be police officer to comprehend, much less operate on a functional level!”

Granted, from what Fillmore could see of the controller, it _did_ look way more sophisticated than an average RC car or helicopter and he was beginning to mentally curse himself for not bringing along Ingrid, who he knew was way smarter than O’Farrell or him and could have this thing figured out in a jiffy.

“It looks like we’re at a standstill, then,” he muttered. All was silent as the two simply stared at one another, save for the distant roaring and footsteps of the animatronic beast down below.

_“Why?”_ suddenly came a voice and they turned to see O’Farrell, who looked emotionally devastated and destroyed at all of this unnecessary destruction. He began to walk towards them, stopping a few feet away, “Why did you it?”

“Why? _Why?!”_ she snarled, gripping the controller so tightly that it looked like she was about to break it, “Oh, I’ll _tell_ you why! It’s that Robotics Club! They’re probably the ones you talked to, aren’t they? Did they give you the 411 on me? The whole sob story about how I suddenly left and they didn’t think I’d come back, completely ignoring the part where they treated me like dirt?!”

“Listen-”

“No, _you_ listen, O’Farrell, or whatever the heck your name is! So what if I like dinosaurs a lot and know a lot about them, that doesn’t mean they can just tell me my interests don’t matter and that... they’re… they’re childish!” Darla hid her head, close to tears.

While O’Farrell _wanted_ to be mad, he did, he couldn’t help but feel his heart crumble at the sight of her. He could relate to her plights with not being understood and rejected by one’s peers, as odd and strange as it sounded, and while he would never do something like this to get back at people, there was always this tinge of resentment and anger hidden deep within him.

It was small enough to the point where he never really noticed it and simply just took the comments and abuse that some of the other patrollers would give him. But now, staring at someone who had gone through the same stuff, he found himself questioning whether or not having even the tiniest bit of resentment for others was bad. What if he snapped? What if he did something like this or even worse?

“I… I understand, Darla.”

The girl looked up at him for a moment before turning away and letting out a scoff, “No you don’t. Nobody understands me.”

“I do! Honest! People don’t give me that much respect as a safety patroller either. Fillmore and his partner are probably the only ones who listen to me and my ideas.”

Fillmore gave a thumbs up in response but didn’t say anything else, giving O’Farrell the floor.

“Besides, I like dinosaurs too! I like them a lot! But do you have to do all this,” he pointed outside of the booth, where the dinosaur was still going ham, “just to get your point across that you want to be more respected? Come on, man, I understand the motive, but that doesn’t mean you can ruin the fun for everyone else!”

Darla pondered what the Safety Patrol photographer had said, before letting out a deep and thoughtful sigh, “Fine, you’re right. I suppose causing so much chaos and trouble just to get at a couple of people who did me wrong is what you’d call a real-life case of disproportionate retribution. I’ll turn it off.”

She fiddled with the controller when it suddenly shot out sparks and completely shut off. Down below, the dinosaur only proceeded to go even more berserk, smashing itself against the wall and letting out a roar that sounded even more bloodcurdling and primal than the ones before it.

Darla’s worry only grew as she pressed more buttons and tried moving the joystick around some more, but that did absolutely nothing as the dinosaur continued to act more like a _real_ dinosaur, whipping debris with its tail and picking up shards of wood and metal and throwing them. “I’ve lost control of it!”

“Won’t it run out of power?” O’Farrell asked.

“Maybe, but who knows how long that’ll take! Unlike yesterday, the robot’s _just_ been turned on! It could be another hour until he runs out of batteries!”

“That means robo-dino down there is acting on his own free will,” Fillmore muttered, looking down at the chaos, “I hope Ingrid is okay.”

Anza didn’t really know where he was going, but he certainly had a plan in mind, well, he _hoped_ he had a plan, one that wouldn’t get him injured or even killed. Find Tehama and get out uninjured, that’s all he needed to do, but lizardbreath rampaging over there didn’t make things any easier. Why did they have to get separated from each other?

The robotic beast only seemed to be getting _more_ aggressive and bloodthirsty and was running around the gym in a blind rage, smashing even more carts and exhibits, like a true king of the prehistoric would. O’Farrell would have an absolute field day with this, that was for sure.

Now, where could Tehama be? It was hard to check while trying to _not_ get crushed by a giant animatronic T-Rex. He was honestly _terrified_ and every neuron in his brain was telling him to flee the area, but he couldn’t, not until he had _her_ safe and sound. Tehama’s safety was more important to him than some dumb animalistic caveman instincts.

He heard a terrified shout, one that sounded so darn familiar that he couldn’t help but do a complete 180 and run in the direction of the voice. His speed slowed down upon seeing it was right where the dinosaur was, which was staring at something in the corner, something he couldn’t see thanks due to the mounds of debris, but putting two-and-two together, he ran faster than ever before.

Upon reaching there, he saw his worst fear confirmed.

The dinosaur had cornered Tehama against the wall, snarling as it stared at her with its sharp teeth and huge green eyes as if to say ‘Look who’s life-like now!’. Tehama, on the other hand, who was cowering in fear, took one look at Anza and calmed down slightly, though she was still very frightened.

“A-Anza, do something.”

That did it.

Hearing her words, his fear, anxiety, and apprehension melted like ice cream on a hot day, replaced by an even more potent emotion. Rage. This dinosaur was the cause of _all_ of their problems, regardless of who was controlling it behind the scenes, and now it wanted to hurt Tehama? He gritted his teeth, anger overcoming him in a flash. Looking around, he spotted a broken pipe and in a state of blind fury, threw it at the robot.

It made contact and the beast turned away from Tehama and instead focused its attention onto Anza. It growled and let out a furious roar, but the boy didn’t move, glaring at the dinosaur with a stare that could chill the blood of anyone foolish to activate his bitter wraith.

Seeing a particularly sharp piece of metal on the ground, he got an idea and looked towards his partner, who was staring at the display with a look of silent horror, and made a couple of motions and signals to her. She got the clue and nodded, getting into position.

He turned towards the robotic menace, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Hey, what are you waiting for? Eat me! Unless you’re too scared to because you’re a huge prehistoric chicken! Bawk-bawk, chicken!”

As if it understood the insult, the dinosaur snapped itself out of its staring trance and charged at the boy, infuriated beyond reason. However, this would be its downfall. On cue, Tehama grabbed the dinosaur’s tail and pulled, causing it to slip and lose balance.

Now it was Anza’s turn. Grabbing the metal stake with lightning speed, he rushed forward and stabbed it through the metallic chest of the T-Rex, severing important wires and circuitry inside. The dinosaur spazzed out for a moment or two and let out a final, albeit glitched, roar before collapsing onto the floor, gone for good.

“I… did it,” Anza said, dropping the stake on the ground, “I did it!”

Tehama jumped over the robotic remains and landed right into his arms, giving him a tight hug. “You did great.”

“All’s well that ends well,” Darla said, eyeing the scene from the windows of the booth, “but what about me? What was I even thinking?! I’ll probably be sent to juvie for this!”

“Don’t be too sure about that, Darla,” Fillmore replied, “what you did wasn’t exactly the best way to go about your problems, but I’m sure I can manage to have Folsom cut you some slack, like maybe not juvie exactly, but we sure could use some help cleaning up this mess.”

She gave a small smile, ready to be on the right road once more.

“Besides, this wasn’t a complete waste, look,” he said, pointing back towards Anza and Tehama, “you helped him conquer his fear. It might not be much, but that’s gotta be worth something!”

“Did I miss anything?” a new voice spoke and all three turned around to see Ingrid standing in the doorframe. Her hair looked a little frazzled and messy and she also had a couple of scratches on her, but other than that, she looked relatively uninjured. “What? You didn’t think I got hurt, did you? It takes a lot more than a rogue robot to take me down.”

“Glad to see you’re okay, Ingrid,” Fillmore said, “and don’t worry, we’ve already sorted everything out.”

The sun began to set, casting one last, but bright, light onto the early march snow, illuminating the landscape. The fluffy pink clouds completed the scene, giving everything a hazy and peaceful look.

Two kids walked out of X Middle School, side by side. It was silent and calm, save for the occasional gust of winter wind.

“So… Uhm,” Tehama began, breaking the ice, “I just wanted to say thank you, you know, for saving me back there.”

“Eh, what can I say? It was nothing, honestly.”

“But it _was_ something, Anza,” she looked up at her partner, “Yesterday you were _terrified_ of that thing, but when you saw I was in trouble earlier, you threw all of your fears and worries away just to protect me!”

“Yeah, but we’re partners, aren’t we? We gotta have each other’s back. I can’t just leave you like that! What kind of person would I be? Not a good one.”

She giggled at his response. Deep down, she knew how he _really_ felt about her and that, if given the chance, he’d always rise to her defense, no matter the cost. Too bad he had a bit less tact at being the romantic type, but she’d always respected that about him. She wasn’t the kind of person to like the over-clingy type of guy who would go to bizarre and insane lengths just to prove their love for her, she had the misfortune of meeting several of those ‘ladies-men’ already.

But Anza was different, he didn’t _have_ to go to such lengths to prove his adoration of her, he just did well, whatever he felt like doing. He said what he felt like saying, he did what he felt like doing and while it didn’t take rocket science to figure out he always had considered _her_ feelings, he’d just never openly admit it or make it obvious.

Until the situation requires it, like today.

“Well, here’s the bus stop,” she said, preparing to take off and go her own separate way, “see you tomorrow?”

He nodded, a teeny smile on his face.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” she reached over and gave him a small kiss on the cheek, causing the boy to instantly blush and just about pass out. She smiled and walked down the street, leaving Anza to try to comprehend what had just happened, "Bye!

He rubbed the spot where she had just kissed him, wondering if that had just _really_ happened.

"B-Bye."


End file.
